Company Profile

Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. is a research-driven pharmaceutical company discovering, developing, and marketing a broad range of innovative medicines to improve human health. The Company boasts a long record of innovation and its scientific discoveries have led to medicines alleviating suffering, and prolonging and enhancing the lives of Canadians and people around the world. Increasingly, these same discoveries are contributing to the search for better ways of managing the country's scarce healthcare resources and thereby helping to safeguard one of the world's most accessible and effective healthcare systems.

The Company

Merck Frosst employs nearly 1600 people across Canada, including 1000 who work at the corporate headquarters in Montréal, Québec. Recently, Merck Frosst invested in the MaRS Centre in Toronto’s renowned downtown Discovery District. The company consistently ranks as one of the top 20 corporate R&D investors in Canada, with an investment of $114 million in 2006. Merck Frosst is a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, which ranks among the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

The Company is a recognized leader in the treatment of asthma, osteoporosis, glaucoma, prostate disease, migraines and infectious diseases. The Company also markets an extensive line of cardiovascular medicines for high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and heart failure as well as a broad range of vaccines.

Driven by Research

The roots of Merck Frosst are planted deep in the history of Canadian scientific research. It has invested heavily in research and development (R&D) since its beginning in 1899. The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research is one of the largest private biomedical research facilities in Canada. More than 300 of the world's leading scientific personnel work to discover new therapeutic agents for the treatment of respiratory diseases, inflammatory diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and hypertension. The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research, located in Montreal, Quebec, is one of ten Merck research laboratories worldwide.

Merck Frosst scientists conduct the entire range of the research process in the company’s state-of-the-art laboratories. Basic research seeks to shed light on the fundamental mechanisms of disease. In addition to basic research, which encompasses Medicinal Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Molecular Biology, the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research also has a strong development component. Promising compounds are investigated to observe their effects on these mechanisms. This investigation includes finding the correct dosage and the best means of delivering the medication. The discovered and newly synthesized chemical entities must go through the process of formulation development before first administration to man. The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research also works extensively with scientists in universities, hospitals, healthcare institutions and our network of Merck research centres.

With the development of SINGULAIR® (montelukast sodium), the Merck Frost Centre for Therapeutic Research has earned its place as one of the world's leading research centres.

Other successes for the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research include the discovery of the cardiovascular drug BLOCADREN® (timolol maleate tablets), the muscle relaxant FLEXERIL® (cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride) and TIMOPTIC® (timolol maleate ophthalmic solution) for glaucoma.